tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post5181023903624128146..comments2023-10-14T18:34:30.879+02:00Comments on Lost in Arles: Saving savoryHeather Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-81476844997924713692012-08-26T13:30:44.772+02:002012-08-26T13:30:44.772+02:00Oh...Moroccan.
Did I ever tell you that Herve(who...Oh...Moroccan.<br /><br />Did I ever tell you that Herve(who looks EXACTLY like most American's notion of a Frenchman...or at least they say this on a regular basis) is scarcely "French" (at least by La Pen "France for the French!" standards) at all? All of his grandparents and both his parents were born and raised in France, but his great grandparents were all Russian and Irish political-exiles who landed in 1920's Paris. Wait...he has one purely Gallic great-grandmother....so he's 1/8th "French". As for shady connections?....I've just discovered that my godmother's sister (both women were raised in ill-gotten, extreme luxury in Haiti prior to the Duvalier's coup) was married (she's been a widow for ten years) to Bashir al Assad's close friend and first cousin.....no wonder she shortened her married name to merely "Assad". Nice lady,though.....david terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009130338123162371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-84598360019704546852012-08-24T17:04:06.874+02:002012-08-24T17:04:06.874+02:00David, I haven't been able to respond to your ...David, I haven't been able to respond to your fantastic comments from this morning yet and am running out the door but this too made me smile. No, Remi is not at all linked with the former Tunisian dictator (as he likes to joke "I am the Benali without the gold") but is half French (with Dutch ancestors too), half Moroccan. He has some amazing stories in his family. Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-5072924097428857312012-08-24T16:52:24.572+02:002012-08-24T16:52:24.572+02:00Hey Heather...just wondering, but I've always ...Hey Heather...just wondering, but I've always assumed that Remi was of Tunisian or Libyan extraction (so to speak..and I should emphasize that my expereience isn't based utterly-completely on having seen "The English Patient" 14 years ago...)? Is this true?<br /><br />---daviddavid terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009130338123162371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-66779008883757172832012-08-24T12:55:38.201+02:002012-08-24T12:55:38.201+02:00Here's another vote for the rosé sippy cup! I ...Here's another vote for the rosé sippy cup! I just got home from a week-long trip and am gazing at your beautiful sundried-tomato/sardine/feta spread with longing. That salty tang is exactly what my jetlagged body craves right now. Yum!Ann Mahhttp://www.annmah.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-10626004964881586752012-08-24T12:44:22.894+02:002012-08-24T12:44:22.894+02:00Eventually, mymother graduated to the hamburger-he...Eventually, mymother graduated to the hamburger-helper, frozen "vegetable medley" (we all loved that stuff) and shake-'n-bake level of cooking....but, then, microwaves came along in the 70's, so even those were abandoned. She hasn't looked back since then and remains utterly indifferent to food (which probably goes a long way towards explaining why she's weighed between 98 and 115 pounds her entire, married life). <br /><br />Like a lot of other folks, I learned to cook whle taking a Ph.d. in literature (as you might know, this sort of degree generally entails waiting on a lot of tables in a lot of restaurants for a lot of years).<br /><br />Well, enough of this....suffice it to say that I don't regard myself as an expert cook. I do happen to read fairly decently, and I'm reasonably adept at following instructions.<br /><br />Level Best as Ever,<br /><br />David Terry<br />www.davidterryart.com<br />david terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009130338123162371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-26343874383218986202012-08-24T12:43:50.635+02:002012-08-24T12:43:50.635+02:00Well, thanks, Helen....but I've got to say tha...Well, thanks, Helen....but I've got to say that I'm not really an "expert cook"....or at least I don't think I know very much (an opinion doubtlessly affected by my being good friends with four James Beard award-winning chefs and cookbook writers). 3 of my other close, longtime friends own very succesful, renowned, and innovative restaurants.<br /><br />When folks learn where I grew up, they invariably exclaim "Oh....how lucky! You must have had all the WONDERFUL SOUTHERN COOKING!". I tell them that no one in my family knows how to cook at all....certainly not any of the women. My brothers have both, in a self-defensive manner, learned how to grill, but even then they have a markedly limited repetoire....mostly consisting of what their young sons will agree to eat.<br /><br />The fact is.....my great-grandmother, grandmother and great aunts grew up with SOMEONE else working in the kitchen. I think each of the girls (as was the case for my mother in the late fifties) learned how to make one or two fancy little desserts, which they made only when a potential marriage-prospect visited. A great fuss would, for the suitor's benefit, be made over this display of Supreme Domestic Accomplishment....although it was corporately assumed that no man was a genuine marriage prospect unless he would be able to hire a cook for the household. The LAST man any of them would marry would be a man who knew how to cook.<br /><br />All of my female relatives (spanning three generations) have made it basically clear that The Men are the ones who lost The War (you can guess which one they're still referring to), so The Men can be the ones who go back into that servant-less kitchen and get cracking.<br /><br />Moreover?...my grandmother (who scandalously, for that time, divorced at age 26) happily spent the next 25 years as the matron of a very pleasant (truly) private orphanage. Hence, she ate institutional food for the rest of her life. My father AND my mother (who was a genuine orphan...unlike my father, who merely lived in the orphanage with his mother) spent their entire childhood and adolescence eating in the orphanage's dining-hall, without ever setting foot in a kitchen....not even a single time.<br /><br />My mother was adopted, at age 13, by a very wealthy family....chauffeur, butler, two maids, housekeepeer, AND a cook, etcetera. So, for the next seven years, she never went into a kitchen. I think she learned how to "make" shrimp-cocktail (six shrimp arranged around a little bowl of bottled "shrimp cocktail sauce", with a garnish of celery and a lemon wedge.....the height of elegance in 1958).<br /><br />When my parents married at age 22, neither of them knew a SINGLE thing about cooking. Nor did my grandmother (who soon came to live with them). I do not exagerrate (nor spell very well, either). Bascially, you might as well have had three toddlers in a kitchen.<br /><br />My father entered the air force right after marrying, and they found themselves on an airforce base in Biloxi, Mississippi. That first week, my mother thought of making "spaghetti". She poured a couple of cans of tomato sauce in a pan, broke a bunch of uncooked, dried pasta into the sauce, added raw hamburger, and boiled it for an hour. I've gathered that it was predictably dreadful.<br /><br />According to both my parents, my mother simply adopted the habit of taking her two boys (we were born a year after the marriage) in our strollers down to the docks each morning...where you could buy oysters, crabs, and shrimp for FIFTY CENTS A BUCKET (once again, no kidding). She managed to conquer the intricacies of boiling shellfish.....and that's what we were almost exclusively raised-on, along with carrot sticks, apples, and whatever the bread-lady (there still was one back then...walking house-to-house every morning with deliveries) was making/selling....(to be continued)<br /><br /><br />david terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009130338123162371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-21105901725411127102012-08-24T12:08:53.761+02:002012-08-24T12:08:53.761+02:00I made nearly the same for myself last night! Alth...I made nearly the same for myself last night! Although I need to see what kind of chillies you use. I can never find the right ones at the market--they are either too bland or they burn my tongue off (and I am not afraid of a little heat).<br /><br />Anywho, "great minds"...have a great weekend!Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-50375206056787590952012-08-24T12:07:18.494+02:002012-08-24T12:07:18.494+02:00Holy cow, you raised him right now, didn't you...Holy cow, you raised him right now, didn't you? :)Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-30814750408204884912012-08-24T12:06:42.489+02:002012-08-24T12:06:42.489+02:00If I ever do get David over here, I am afraid I wi...If I ever do get David over here, I am afraid I will wrangle him into the kitchen! Not very hospitable to admit but true! <br /><br />And I was just saying to Remi that the ONE thing that I miss most about no longer having a BBQ is making grilled sardines. Whew. So simple and so good. No wonder they call it the "perfect food"!Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-31478906266399744682012-08-24T12:04:28.363+02:002012-08-24T12:04:28.363+02:00That would be a correct assumption, Chef David. An...That would be a correct assumption, Chef David. And as I am lazy (do you notice how I keep repeating that?) I will simply go out and BUY citron confit rather than make it. :) As I love lemon and lentils and nuts and mint, well, I think it is safe to say that I will be addicted to this salad. Merci...Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-20034322979283748702012-08-24T06:13:08.471+02:002012-08-24T06:13:08.471+02:00In answer to your question... Absolutely nothing!!...In answer to your question... Absolutely nothing!! Just kidding... I wish... and I am about to rev my cuisine making mood up for this coming weekend... <br />I did make a good pasta last night... easy... too hot to be anything else but easy... loads of diced chilli, fresh ripened tomatoes, fresh garlic, rocket and grated parmesan into the olive oil... toss in the pasta... Quite delish if I say so myself! xvvicki archerhttp://vickiarcher.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-30780547770240394092012-08-24T05:51:15.215+02:002012-08-24T05:51:15.215+02:00This all looks and sounds divine.
What was cookin...This all looks and sounds divine.<br /><br />What was cooking around here? To my surprise, peach pie (peaches & nectarines & cream, to be exact). <i>Quelle surprise</i> - my son made it! <br /><br />Not too sweet, gorgeous to look at. Delish.BigLittleWolfhttp://dailyplateofcrazy.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-17103351456378872922012-08-24T03:55:16.864+02:002012-08-24T03:55:16.864+02:00I love the salad dish you featured. We grill on o...I love the salad dish you featured. We grill on our balcony and then dine in our air-conditioned dining room. Lots of salad and grilled salmon or chicken. I had grilled sardines yesterday which were delicious.<br /><br />I enjoyed reading David Terry's suggestions, he clearly is an expert cook.<br /><br />Helen xx<br /> helen tilstonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02791882664528962799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-41242772238153722842012-08-24T02:27:09.992+02:002012-08-24T02:27:09.992+02:00P.S. Heather, if Remi hates capers....substitute ...P.S. Heather, if Remi hates capers....substitute tiny chunks of preserved lemon (you do know how to make this, don't you...it's SIMPLE).<br /><br />I'm pretty sure that a man named "Remi Benali" has made the acquaintance of a preserved lemon in his lifetime.<br /><br />---david terrydavid terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009130338123162371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-529972192569242292012-08-23T22:32:35.181+02:002012-08-23T22:32:35.181+02:00I am taken with the idea of that rose. . .out here...I am taken with the idea of that rose. . .out here in the Western US with all the outdoorsy folks we have around, there are any number of reusable water bottles that attach to belts or straps or pockets. Silly me! I've never thought beyond water as a beverage but you've given me another idea! Stay cool if possible.Jackie and Joel Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14074129927177165084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-7656505310458057312012-08-23T21:06:43.633+02:002012-08-23T21:06:43.633+02:00As it would mine, Tabitha, as it would mine...As it would mine, Tabitha, as it would mine...Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-10767670484446902832012-08-23T20:33:53.236+02:002012-08-23T20:33:53.236+02:00A sippy cup with rose? Strap it on please!
Luckily...A sippy cup with rose? Strap it on please!<br />Luckily we have three inherited houses here that I can use, all went through the male line alas, but sigh yeah at least at the moment I get a week or two here - more sighs but it still sticks in my craw.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-76543835775938456382012-08-23T19:47:38.444+02:002012-08-23T19:47:38.444+02:00Oh no...I am a lazy, lazy, lazy cook! Completely u...Oh no...I am a lazy, lazy, lazy cook! Completely unlike you and Giampy!! All I do is throw good stuff together add spices and hope for the best. :)Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-58377562006258547662012-08-23T16:51:15.996+02:002012-08-23T16:51:15.996+02:00I just made a chicken breast with a tuna sauce!To ...I just made a chicken breast with a tuna sauce!To be served cold!I also, made carrots with dried apricots........they get better as days pass!Sounds like your a DEEVINE.........cook!I hope the weather cools down for you all............xoxoLA CONTESSAhttp://www.vintagehenhouse.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-14365834585731120462012-08-23T15:07:43.467+02:002012-08-23T15:07:43.467+02:00Thank you for the ideas, Chef David (which somehow...Thank you for the ideas, Chef David (which somehow sounds better than Chef Terry). You have mentioned that garlic soup at some point in the past and as garlic is most likely my very favorite ingredient (narrowly beating out melted butter), one that I can eat raw like bonbons, I will have to give it a go.<br /><br />Alas, Mr. Remi will eat just about anything save for capers, so I will also give the wonderfully easy sounding lentil salad a try without. Yes, I know it won't be the same but it still sounds excellent. And yes, I have access to excellent oils (including a pungent Thai Wok Oil with lemongrass that is tricky business) but don't you at Whole Foods?<br /><br />Speaking of the easy factor, I cannot make the point to you clearly enough what a very lazy cook that I am. So the poached chicken is out. Unless I somehow manage to visit and you serve it at your house! <br /><br />Wishing you a day full of...good things,<br />Heather<br /><br />PS. Whenever we go to Vaison la Romaine, part of me is on a hopeful hunt for seeing Patricia Wells ...Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-37359183940985018392012-08-23T12:36:53.411+02:002012-08-23T12:36:53.411+02:00Hey Heather,
Oddly enough, the weather here (Nort...Hey Heather,<br /><br />Oddly enough, the weather here (North Carolina) this summer hs not only been completely unremarkable in terms of the temperature (this is, after all, August), but it's also (in the midst of a drought which seems to be gripping 90% of the country) been extraordinarily wet......big rainstorms every four days or so. I haven't had to water anything, all summer long, except for two ferns under the porch roof.<br /><br />As for Summer cooking? You need to avail yourself of Patricia Wells's very fine, recent book "Salad as a Meal" and Elizabeth Davied's classic "Summer Cooking" (it doesn't have pictures, which upsets some people, but both yours and my households are ones in which we can make plenty of our own pictures, thank you...).<br /><br />I entertain just as regularly in the Summer (although I tend to switch to lunches, rather than sit-down dinners). Summer standards here include poached chicken in a chaud/froid sauce (it's SIMPLE...and can be done in steps over two days...and it can serve as a room-temperature, one-dish meal if you pick up some good bread). Julia Child's recipe in the second volume of "French Cooking" is the most helpful.<br /><br />As an alternative to gazpacho, we rely on cold, "white" garlic soup.....a spanish soup for which there are multiple recipes on the internet. Since you access to good sherry vinegar, you're in luck.<br /><br />My all-time favorite summer-dish is Patricia Wells' (once again....can you tell I love this woman's books?)lentil and walnut salad, which is a completely meal if you serve it on lettuce, with some grilled tuna if you're still feeling hungry or remarkably carnivorous. that said, it's perfect for vegetarians and simply folks who don't want a HEAVY meal.<br /><br />Bascially (and you can adjust the proportions to suit your tastes), it requires lentiles de Puy and walnuts. The "secret" is so simple....but I certainly would never have thought of the combination. Mix your cooked-lentils with chopped walnuts, capers, and a lot of fresh mint (does anyone still bother with the dried stuff?).....then make a dressing of lemon-juice and GOOD walnut oil (salt and pepper, of course). As ever, it's one of those bascially simple combinations that does, however, depend on your having access to the best ingredients (the wlanut oil is tricky, here in America, but you should have no problem).<br /><br />That's all,<br /><br />David Terry<br />www.davidterryart.com<br /><br />I can eat this stuff every day.....and sort of do, during this time of year.david terryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009130338123162371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-41301154459020102312012-08-23T09:45:55.943+02:002012-08-23T09:45:55.943+02:00I like to use it for duck too. :)I like to use it for duck too. :)Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-67788661751147551902012-08-23T09:44:47.028+02:002012-08-23T09:44:47.028+02:00Ooh, I hope that you like it Carolyn and your folk...Ooh, I hope that you like it Carolyn and your folks too!Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-30468016621334334352012-08-23T09:31:45.879+02:002012-08-23T09:31:45.879+02:00Ooh, I think I am behind on your blog, Natalie! An...Ooh, I think I am behind on your blog, Natalie! And there are Paris pictures!!! <br /><br />And really, Remi does MOST of the dinners so I really can't complain. :)Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2498719763759636773.post-45175850420828484772012-08-23T09:30:20.523+02:002012-08-23T09:30:20.523+02:00Yep, they call sardines the perfect food--I figure...Yep, they call sardines the perfect food--I figure that it is good for my noggin'. :)Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.com